In Estonia, €615,000 of women’s employment program to go to staff
In Estonia’s Ida-Viru County, a new state program to support women entering the labor market will cost nearly €800,000 over three years. More than €615,000 of this amount is allocated for direct personnel costs and related expenses, ERR News reports.
Program funding
The exact cost of the project is €799,365. The European Social Fund Plus will cover 70% of the budget, or €559,555.95. Estonia will co-finance the remaining 30%, or €239,809.70.
The largest budget item is direct personnel costs, amounting to €615,845. Of this, €439,741 is planned for employees directly involved in implementing the measures. The budget also includes expenses for preparing the program and 15% in indirect costs.
Participants and consultants’ work
The program is intended for women aged 40 to 64 in Ida-Virumaa who do not speak Estonian. It is planned to involve 450 participants, with the employment of 45 women set as the success criterion.
More current news is available on the UA.News Telegram channel Telegram.
Kristi Melesk, head of the Employment Department at the Ministry of Economic Affairs, explained the large share of personnel costs by the need for intensive individual consultations and the development of a new service. The team includes a project manager, a part-time program manager, a coordinator in Ida-Virumaa, and six consultants who will work full time. A part-time training coordinator and designer were also added to the project.
According to Melesk, the consultants have already been recruited and trained, and were scheduled to start working with participants in September. They will help with job searches, CV preparation, rebuilding self-confidence, and finding suitable vacancies.
Melesk believes the program will not duplicate the work of the Unemployment Insurance Fund, as it is intended to find people who have long been inactive in the labor market and do not independently seek the relevant services. The program also provides for cooperation with employers so that participants can learn about employment opportunities available in the region.
